There are at least nine GOP-led state legislature that wants to restrict or criminalize drag shows
The Tennessee House Senate Session 419 (Wayne Williams) Sents Against Drag Shows and Brunches for LGBTQ Performances
Wendy Williams has owned her bar, Club Temptation, in Cookeville, Tenn., for six years. She regularly holds space for drag performances, including drag brunches and bingo. Williams performs drag.
Tennessee’s is the first of nearly a dozen such bills presently working their way through GOP-led state legislatures. Republicans say the performances expose children to sexual themes and imagery that are inappropriate, a claim rejected by advocates, who say the proposed measures are discriminatory against the LGBTQ community and could violate First Amendment laws.
Williams’ bar doesn’t allow entry to minors, so a child wouldn’t be able to see any of the shows her establishment puts on anyway, she said. But given the bill’s wording, she is starting to wonder whether her bar will have to be re-categorized as, essentially, a strip club.
Lawmakers and critics say this is a different session. Legislators in other states have filed similar proposals to those in Tennessee and North Dakota. They’ve popped up in several states, like Texas, West Virginia and Nebraska. drag show performances would be restricted by many of the bills.
Conservative media and Republican lawmakers said their opposition to drag shows was about protecting children. drag queens are grooming children according to a gay trope.
Drag, a mainstay in LGBTQ nightlife, is considered performance art that celebrates gender fluidity, self expression and self acceptance. Performers impersonate both men and women. In recent years, it’s grown in mainstream popularity, as drag brunches and story hours have popped up throughout the country.
At least-10 state legislatures are trying to restrict criminalize drag shows – a human rights campaigner has criticized the far-right
The bills give politicians the power to decide what is appropriate in the hands of politicians, and that is threatening businesses, libraries, performers and people who serve them. They expect these to sail through many legislatures.
Last year, 315 anti-LGBTQ bills were filed during state legislative sessions. Even in Republican-led state governments, there were strong protests against some of the restrictions, according to the Human Rights Campaign.
Lawmakers’ answer to drag queen story hours are a subset of drag bans. The events, during which a drag queen reads books to kids, have popped up around the country. Some events have become targets for opponents as they have become a subject of venom for the far-right.
A group of protesters have protested in front of drag shows in Cookeville, where Williams is from. A group of people held up a Nazi flag and yelled from across the street of a drag show in town recently.
He told NPR that drag shows expose children to “indecent exposure” and described it as a “slippery slope” toward the eventual legalization of pedophilia.
He and others thought that Shakespearean productions like As You Like It could be in violation of the law.
“What they deem appropriate that day is totally up to the discretion of the officials to decide whether this runs afoul of whatever they think is ‘decent,'” Sykes said.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/02/08/1151731736/at-least-10-state-legislatures-trying-restrict-criminalize-drag-shows
At least-10-state-legislatures-trying-restrict-criminalize-drag-shows: South Carolina Senator Thomas Beach’s cut-and-run bill
South Carolina state Rep. Thomas Beach told NPR that the language in his earlier version of his state’s bill was admittedly too broad. But he plans to make to changes to the policy, which he believes will make it more palatable for fellow Republicans concerned about impacts on business. Support is very high, said the beach.
bipartisan criticism of the bill’s breadth prompted the change of proposal by Arkansas lawmakers. The bill of language targeting drag shows was gutted by those changes.
A deal to continue the Miss Gay America event in Little Rock fell apart shortly after the state of Arkansas dropped its ban on gay marriage. Michael Dutzer is the CEO and executive producer of Mad Angel Entertainment.
Even now, he said with threats and derogatory statements sent to the organization, it doesn’t seem possible for the organization to continue in Little Rock.
Dutzer said that it would be a loss for Arkansas. Thousands of people came to the event and spent money in local hotels, sites and restaurants. The production spent around $70,000 to put the pageant on.
Source: https://www.npr.org/2023/02/08/1151731736/at-least-10-state-legislatures-trying-restrict-criminalize-drag-shows
The Future Governor of Tennessee Is Not Dressed in Drag, but He’s Been There (For More Than One Year!”” Lee told WZTV
“You don’t know what’s going to happen. Is it worth continuing running a bar after six years? Is it better that I put the bar up for sale and never use it again? Not because I’m scared, but just cause is it worth the hassle and the headache of dealing with it?,” she said. I don’t know if telling the truth is worth it.
The future Governor of Virginia has been accused of hypocrisy after a 1978 high school photo was posted on the internet and shows him dressed in female clothing and wearing a wig, while other students are wearing men’s suits.
At a news conference on Monday, Lee ignored a question about whether he had once dressed in drag but rejected any comparisons between the purported image and the drag show legislation.
Lee said that the question is ridiculous and that it is a very serious matter, according to WZTV.
A spokesperson for Lee further elaborated to the Daily Beast, saying, “The bill specifically protects children from obscene, sexualized entertainment, and any attempt to conflate this serious issue with lighthearted school traditions is dishonest and disrespectful to Tennessee families.”
